The Italian national team coach, Roberto Mancini, sparked a new wave of controversy over the financial issue facing the English club, Manchester City, after statements in which he appeared to claim that he had a “double contract” during his tenure as coach of the team.
In response to a journalist’s question about his previous contract, Mancini said: “This is not a problem of mine. The matter is not new, as it comes up every four or five years,” adding: “Manchester City is not guilty, and having a double contract is not my problem, but rather their problem.”
This controversy comes at a time when Manchester City faces more than 100 accusations of financial violations, including failure to provide accurate information about payments made to players and coaches during the period extending between the 2009-2010 and 2017-2018 seasons.
The roots of this case go back to 2018, when the German magazine “Der Spiegel” published documents indicating that Mancini had received sums of money in exchange for consulting services for a club in Abu Dhabi, which contributed to doubling his basic salary of 1.45 million pounds sterling.
In the same context, press reports issued on Friday stated that an independent committee supported most of the financial accusations against the club. For its part, Manchester City did not confirm the issuance of this decision, stressing that its case with the English Premier League is still valid.
The club continues to categorically deny committing any violations, as its president, Khaldoun Al-Mubarak, renewed his full confidence in the institution’s ability to prove its innocence, stressing that the path of legal procedures “is still long.”
It is noteworthy that Roberto Mancini took over the leadership of Manchester City and led him to win the English Premier League title in the 2011-2012 season – the club’s first title in nearly half a century – in addition to winning the FA Cup in 2011, before he was dismissed in 2013.
